Where is the student now? Where do you want him to be? Given the sub-skill you selected within your task analysis (your starting point for instruction), how can you shape this behavior into a practical skill for the future?
Can the student differentiate personal information from non-personal information? If not, begin instruction by detailing the list of ‘personal information.’ As the larger list is developed, create categories that are within the student’s range of ability. Avoid introducing more than two categories at once. Does this student need only one category at a time? You may then refer to the category to assist his identification and labeling as he watches a role-play or scenario. Can he identify what is “too personal” or “appropriate?” Then, the student may practice demonstrating these skills himself as an actor in role-plays and video models.
What visual supports (scripts, instructions, reminder cues, etc.) will you use to help the student rehearse the expected behavior or skill?
Examples for this topic are included in graphic organizers, social narratives, and communication scripts. Graphic organizers may be the most helpful visual support to use when introducing the concepts as they can then serve as referencing tools while the student advances through the topic.
What type of prompting might you need to provide in the initial learning phase?
Once the visual support is developed, provide models of situations that are ‘too personal’ or ‘appropriate’ and identify them for the student. Then have the student use the organizer to define where the modeled situations fall. The instructor will use verbal prompts and gestural prompts to the visual support in combination initially, systematically fading the verbal and eventually the gestural prompts so that the student automatically uses the support to identify what he sees. Then set up scenarios for the student to practice. Systematic reduction of prompting to the visual support to encourage the student to label what he did in practice will then be used.
Your prompting procedure will progress in the following way: |
From full models and your labeling of the models…. |
Along the way, the instructor will systematically reduce gestural prompts to the visual support and reinforce the student for referring to the support to confirm a label.
Can the student discriminate between the more versus less appropriate response in a given role-play scenario? Are you arranging opportunities for the student to make such discriminations and to label when the instructor or someone else performs the behavior incorrectly?
Role-plays and scenarios will be part of the initial phase of instruction on this topic. Remember that repeated practice opportunities are essential and must be connected to the creation of any visual support. Offer practice opportunities for handling situations where the student is asked to divulge personal information, or is expected to select the “most appropriate” question when asking a co-worker about himself.
Use role-plays with the student being an active observer. During these activities, the student may hold up a visual cue indicating “Correct” or “Too Personal” based on the scene. Advanced methods may involve the student labeling certain information in a scene as “Never safe for work” or “Sometimes shared with Human Resources.” Eventually, the student may be able to not only label the behavior, but offer suggestions for more appropriate demonstration.
Are you arranging frequent practice opportunities to build fluency through repetition?
If you can get the family involved in the instruction process, many natural opportunities to practice these skills will become available. For instance, the student may divulge private information in class and require redirection. If the family is on-board with the lessons and your techniques, you can prompt the student by saying, “That is personal information for home with dad, not school” and feel comfortable that a teaching opportunity is not missed but only redirected to the natural environment.
What steps do you need to take to ensure that everyone targeting that skill applies the same level of prompting and fades it out at the same rate to support initiation by the student?
